7.25.2013

Wowza....what a crafty month June was for me....hehe!! This is the last card for June. It was for my brother's birthday. I made it using the SCAL2 trace feature and an image of a PS3 contoller. I found the inspiration somewhere online and I have no clue where so I'm sorry I'm not able to give credit on this! Hope you like!

7.24.2013

Ok, so June has turned out to be a VERY busy month for me!! Not only at work, but crafting too!! I did 2 Father's Day Cards, a Birthday Card for my brother and a Birthday card for my mom!! All while working 60+ hours a week. Not too shabby.

During my hours of looking for new techniques online I ran across a blog that I love! It's http://www.cricutchick.com she has some really great projects that she's done!!! Plus I love the blog design!!! Btw, be on the look out for my new blog design!! Madeline from The Shabby Vanity at http://themelemanor.blogspot.com is currently working on designing my blog! She also did Cricut Chick so I had to have my design done by her!!

Anyway, I saw the coolest idea for a Father's Day card on cricut chick's blog and decided to do it for my boyfriends father. I got the tool box at www.svgcuts.com and the tools from http://cre8ivecutz.com The tool box didn't come with a tray in it so I used the tray from the cre8ive cutz tool box and re-sized it for my tool box. I also cut a 1.5'' circle and then cut it in half to make the handles for the tray.

Once you pull out the tray full of tools there's a YUMMY surprise at the bottom!! 6 pieces.....errrrr....I mean 5 pieces (I got hungry!) of See's Bordeaux Candy! This is my first 3D project!!! Seriously fun!!!

BTW, can you tell I'm getting way into this?? I got a stamp made that reads: Handmade With Love By:

Ok, so I'm doing all these feminine projects and I realized...Father's Day was coming up...I want to make more masculine stuff too! The problem was I had no clue where to start. Remember, I'm still new to paper crafting and have only learned how to make the more feminine layouts and cards. low and behold I decide to go back to http://thecuttingcafe.typepad.com and see if I could find anything that would I wanted to make. I've always made crafts and dolls for my mom and the women in my family but nothing ever for the men. Well after going to the Cafe I found this awesome file and it even came with printable sentiments that I could add to the outside and inside as well as an envelope! P.E.R.F.E.C.T. This card was for my brother! I decided to add a picture of him and his his son Colin on the inside with some photo corners. I snagged the picture off my brothers Facebook page! I LOVE the way this turned out!!!

Ok seriously.....my WHOLE WORLD just opened right up!!! HAHA! I've just discovered SVG's!!!! Holy Moly!!!! I discovered the most AMAZING blog!!! http://thecuttingcafe.typepad.com I can buy SVG files and cut them on my machine!! I can even alter them in my SCAL2 software. Ok seriously.....I don't think I can go into work anymore!!! I have found another addiction....SVG files from the cafe!!! Once I emailed the owner Regina on how to use this file it was on!!!! So I made this card for Mother's Day for both my mom and my boyfriend's mom! They loved them!! I also decided that I wanted to put them in a wood box instead of an envelope. I originally saw this card on http://chelemom.blogspot.com and followed her link to the cutting cafe. OH GOD....MORE FUEL FOR MY ADDICTION!!!! But wait.....it's SOOOO much cheaper then the cartridges I was buying!! That part was boyfriend approved!!! I also learned about die cutting in my Cuttle Bug and have found Spellbinders Nestabilities! Thank god Michaels has 40% of coupons!!!

I found inspiration for this from http://chelemom.blogspot.com I'm really comfortable with the inking and now with all my blog hopping I've decided I now need a Cuttle Bug! This is turning into a full out addiction folks!!! I can't stop!!!!

After that 2 page R is for Rabbit layout I was feeling a lot more confident on what I could accomplish and decided to take on a technique that I learned off one of my favorite blogs! http://withglitteringeyes.blogspot.com I just LOVE her blog and her techniques!!! I learned soo much from her tutorials on altering paper cuts. Man was this a challenge at first but once I got the hang of it, I just love doing it!! Thank you Nadia for the amazing tutorial and really opening my eyes to what you can do with paper crafting!!! If you haven't seen her blog before please click on the link and check it out! You will learn SOOOOO much!!! Truly a talented woman!! Don't forget to come back to my blog to see how the learning process is going!! :)

I'm loving learning all kinds of techniques online!! I did this project after purchasing the directions from Monique Griffith Designs. WOW!!!! This one was pretty intense for a beginner!!! There are soo many layers & EVERY SINGLE layer was inked! The nice part is after this project I'm super confident on inking!! I had soo much fun doing this one, now if I could just find some great pictures to put in it! I also learned how to use Ranger Pearl Paints, those things ROCK!!!

Whoa...get gutsy here and trying some different techniques! Hehe. I wanted to add different types of papers like glitter paper and add some stones. I'm getting better at this for sure, I even am learning a bit about shading if you notice her dress. I use to do make up professionally so I know about shading & highlights but I never considered doing it to paper. Looks good! I made this for my best friends birthday! He's a female impersonator and it so embodies his character!! I love you Ingenue!!! I went over to his house a few months later and he has it framed on the wall!! AWESOME!!!

So I really like using the pieces in the previous project I did so I decided to do it again but as a full page. Not bad, I'm getting better and it's getting easier to understand the different features of this AMAZING machine!!!

Ok, so I bought my Cricut Expression as a Christmas gift to myself and after the Holidays, when my life went back to normal.....I work retail, Christmas is brutal; I pulled it out and started getting familiar with it. I LOVE IT!!!!!! And so began an addiction that just won't stop!!! Hahaha!!

Here's my first project while getting use to the machine. I think it's from the Rock Princess Cartridge if I remember correctly. This was a project in the workbook to familiarize yourself with the different layers and features. I like her! She turned out cute!